Golden Bonds
by Samayo Kaze
Summary: Who's to say there are only four dragons out there, certainly not me. Zeno is acting strange, Shin ah is keeping secrets, and Hak is a total jerk. After all, it is not often that Zeno runs into someone from his past. Wow this summary is awful.
Ok so this started out as simple one-shot and then turned into this while I was writing it. I'm not to sure what to do with it now though. . . . . . . Help . . . . . . . . . anyone? I don't own the song, it is from Tales of Earthsea and I used the direct translation instead of the English variant.

"Speaking"

" _Thinking"_

" _ **Dragon language"**_

 _Singing_

Zeno had been acting strange lately. No one really noticed it at first, but ever since the Happy Hungry Bunch had stopped just outside of a village to restock and to rest, Zeno had been disappearing off somewhere and he refused to tell where. It started off small, he would go into town and get separated from Yun and Yona or he would take twice as long to gather firewood. Then, he started disappearing randomly during the day without telling anyone. No one thought to much about it until Yun noticed that Zeno was not there for breakfast one morning,

"Has anyone seen Zeno this morning," Yun asked with a frown on his face as he surveyed the camp to see if the small dragon was still sleeping despite the fact that the smell of food was usually more than enough to wake Zeno up. The other dragons shook their heads, and Hak frowned as he realized something startling.

"Hey," Hak began slowly, "Does anyone remember seeing him yesterday either?" Looks were exchanged as the everyone realized that no, no one could remember seeing Zeno for the last couple of days.

"What about you Shin ah? The two of you sleep together, did he tell you anything about where he was going," Jae ha—ever the clever one—asked while turning to the masked dragon. Shin ah shook his head, signaling that Zeno had not told him anything, but he almost hesitated and Hak's sharp eyes caught the slight pause. Hak eyed him, and Shin ah shifted under the scrutiny but in the end neither said anything.

"Well if he isn't here, we need to go search the village for him," Yun decided as he finished up cleaning after breakfast, "Jae ha, you go with Hak, Kija you come with Yona and I," he turned to Shin ah next, "Your still to suspicious Shin ah, so you stay here and see if Zeno comes back to camp." At Shin ah's nod, the others set off to search the town leaving him alone at camp. As soon as the others were far enough away, Shin ah dowsed the fire and headed off along the tree line they were camped against. His eyes easily found the clearing the yellow dragon was in. Zeno was still fast asleep, but his companion was not. The white-haired teen had her back to Shin ah and was currently working on skinning a deer for their breakfast. As Shin ah reached the edge of the clearing, he slowed and waited at the edge until the teen—now finished preparing the deer—glanced over her shoulder at him, smiled, and jerked her head to the side to invite Shin ah into her camp. He joined her then, moving to help the teen place the butchered deer to the large pot filled with heated water that was previously placed over the fire. As the stew cooked, the teen waved her hand absently over at Zeno—giving Shin ah her permission to wake the still sleeping dragon—as she cleaned up the deer skin so that she could add it to the pile of furs she had been gathering to make a cloak from. Shin ah reached Zeno and nudged the smaller dragon with his foot. When Zeno failed to awaken, Shin ah reached down to shake him and this time Zeno let loose a low grumble as he turned over. His companion snorted, shaking her head at the dragon's actions as she placed the finished skin with the others to dry. Moving to her breakfast she stirred the large pot as the meet cooked, the smell wafting up from the pot and causing Zeno to stir again. She smiled at the awake dragon, her eyes dancing with mirth. She added more wood to the dwindling fire, as well as adding to the cooking pot some herbs and vegetables that Shin ah recognized as growing wild nearby. As the food finished cooking, the teen patted beside her on the log being used as a bench to offer Shin ah a seat, that he hesitantly took, until the smell of food woke Zeno up. The yellow dragon finally stirred as the stew finished cooking, blinking his eyes tiredly as he stretched and yawned. Zeno seemed surprised to see Shin ah sitting at the fire, but his surprise was quickly pushed aside as his companion hit him in the face with his over coat—which she had been wearing for warmth over her tunic in the still frosty predawn cold. As Zeno scrambled to dress, the teen scooped another bowlful of the stew out and held it out with one hand while stirring the large pot with the other. The bowl was quickly swiped from her, and she easily filled a second before offering it to Shin ah on her right. The taller dragon hesitated, but eventually accepted the bowl and began to eat at a far slower pace than Zeno—who was already holding his bowl out for more. She rolled her eyes at the small blonde, but refilled his bowl before filling up a third for herself. The three sat in relative silence as they ate, easily finishing the entire pot, before Shin ah noticed that the rest of the Happy Hungry Bunch gathering at the center of the village and preparing to return to their own camp. He tapped Zeno gently on the shoulder, who looked up at him before quickly downing what was left in his bowl and snagged his over coat from where he had left it on the ground earlier. He tossed his bowl to the teen, who caught it without looking, as Shin ah calmly handed his own borrowed bowl back to her, she was already preparing to wash the dishes from their breakfast. She waved with one hand as the two warriors left to return to their own camp. They made it just in time to settle down before the others rounded the corner and the camp came into view. Zeno was then yelled at by Yun for several minutes about not leaving without telling someone. After Yun finished yelling, Zeno and Shin ah were sent off to find some more firewood. As they were gathering wood, Zeno reached out to grab Shin ah's arm gently,

"Thank you for not telling anyone about Hime," he spoke unusually softly as he released Shin ah's arm. Shin ah furrowed his brow slightly in confusion, tilting his head a bit as well,

" _Why would I tell?"_ Zeno easily understood his fellow dragon's question and shrugged as he answered,

"Anyone else would have told, or at least brought it up and teased me with it, but you never even mentioned it and I know you have to have known before. So thank you . . .," he paused uncertainly before pushing on, "Hime . . . she's not really . . . much for people, she really prefers being alone most of the time and it isn't healthy, . . . for anyone. The two of us don't run into each other very often anymore. . . ." Zeno had a sad, far away, look in his eyes as he trailed off; his thoughts about someone who was obviously very important to him overwhelming him for a moment. Shin ah was never one for much talking, but he could tell that it really did mean a lot to the smaller dragon that Shin ah had not told anyone about were Zeno had been going.

". . . She is important to you," Shin ah replied quietly as he gathered his large collection of wood into his arms, "I respect that." Zeno gave him an odd look, though whether it was because he spoke or what he had said Shin ah had no idea. Zeno then smiled at the younger dragon before gathering his own considerable pile and leading the way back to camp. When they returned, Yun put Zeno on camp arrest and Zeno complained loudly about it, but his complaining was without any real heat. Yun then took Yona and Kija to help gather supplies for the group, Hak headed off to the blacksmith, and no one honestly wanted to ask where Jae ha was headed. A few minutes after they left, a rock flew out of the tree line and struck the ground next to were Zeno was laying. The rock startled both dragons, Shin ah going for his sword, before the same teen that had been sharing a camp with the yellow dragon slipped out of the tree line and Zeno leaped up excitedly.

"Hime! What are you doing here," Zeno asked as he basically draped his slightly smaller frame over her shoulder. She laughed—a surprisingly deep, bell-like, sound—and shoved the small blonde off her. Shin ah took this time to more closely examine this new person; Hime's long white hair was really the only physical characteristic he had noticed earlier but now he could tell that she also had very beautiful deep red eyes, surprisingly pale skin under the dirt that coated most of her face, and what were obviously borrowed clothes, considering that they appeared to be older than the teen herself.

" _ **Maa, I need to head into the village for some extra supplies and to pick up my bow and arrows from the blacksmith,"**_ she now rubbed the back of her head nervously—her knee length hair swinging back and forth from the force, " _ **Do you mind if I borrow your scarf again,"**_ Hime asked sheepishly as she avoided making eye contact with Zeno. Shin ah was incredibly surprised at how deep the teen's voice was considering her rather small stature. Despite the fact that she was only slightly taller than Zeno, her voice was noticeably deeper than the blonde dragon. Shin ah was so caught up in how deep the teen's voice was that he completely missed that she had spoken a different language. Zeno sighed, shaking his head at the unusual display of meekness from the girl in front of him in amusement. Zeno smiled at her and gestured for her to sit on a log near the dead fire. She smiled back and joined Shin ah around the fire pit, offering her long tresses to her golden haired friend. Zeno sighed again and unwrapped his head scarf, gathering her thin hair up into a firm top knot and tying it in place with the long fabric before also pulling off his second scarf and deftly wrapping it around the lower half of her face. With her hair pulled back and her face concealed, Hime looked nothing like what she had just a few moments ago and Shin ah believed that if he had not just watched her transformation take place then he would have no idea that the kind-rambunctious—girl and the calm—well seasoned—traveler in front of him were the same person. A jingling sound caused a hand to fly up to the scarf holding up several pounds of hair, delicate fingers finding and gently rubbing the cool, smooth, gold piece that Zeno had carried for thousands of years. An unseen frown caused hard violet eyes to narrow, and Shin ah had no idea when or how the eye color had changed, but Zeno just smiled softly and shook his head

"It belongs to you just as much as it belongs to me." The hand withdrew and the hard look softened into something far more gentle and caring. The stranger in front of the two dragons bowed his head, because while Shin ah knew the teen was a woman the person standing before him now appeared both several years older and most assuredly male and he was struggling to wrap his mind around it, and headed off towards the town. The two dragons watched until they could no longer see the strange figure that had disappeared almost as quickly as she had appeared. The rest of the day passed unremarkably, with Zeno deciding to take a nap after working for several hours on what he claimed was a personal project when he first brought it out and Shin ah practicing his swordsmanship while keeping an eye out for intruders. A lone wolf approached the camp at one point, just shortly before the rest of the Happy Hungry Bunch returned, and it brought with it one of Zeno's scarves. "Thank you Moon song," he said calmly as he accepted his scarf from the large animal. Zeno then hap-hazardly draped his scarf back around his shoulders just as the others returned from town, Jae ha clearly by threat of no food later going by his disgruntled frown and Hak's satisfied smirk. Yun gave the orders for water to be fetched to cook with and who was going to be helping to prepare the food, so in short order everything was ready and cooking. As everyone settled down to eat, Zeno continued to steadily ignore the stare Hak had been giving him ever since Hak had returned from the village. Unfortunately, Zeno was not the only person to notice Hak's staring and unlike Zeno, Kija was perfectly alright with calling Hak out on it.

"Did something happen in the village earlier Hak, because you have been staring fairly heavily at Zeno ever since we have returned," Kija questioned over the edge of his bowl—causing Zeno to twitch ever so slightly as the younger dragon drew attention to something he had hoped the other would just ignore. Once Kija opened the subject up, it was like a dam had burst and Jae ha had no problem jumping on the subject,

"Kija is right, Hak, you've been watching Zeno pretty heavily ever since we got back. Is there something you need to tell us, hmm," Jae ha wiggled his visible eyebrow at Hak, who then chucked a rock at his head. Hak frowned, glaring at Jae ha before turning his attention back to the yellow dragon sitting across from him. Said dragon continued to eat his food, at least until everyone else in the group turned turned their attention to him and the staring caused Zeno to slowly lower his bowl and meet Hak's eyes. Hak smirked as he raised his own food bowl back to his lips,

"I was just wondering what happened to his head scarf while we were in town," Hak commented slyly as he continued to eat. The others blinked in various levels of surprise, Zeno was indeed still missing his head scarf and none of them had noticed until Hak had mentioned it's absence. Zeno blinked a few times, one of his hands rising up to touch where it would have rested against his forehead. He had honestly forgotten it was missing seeing as he rarely wore it while in Hime's camp.

"Ah," Zeno replied quietly before shrugging, "Oh well, Zeno's sure Zeno get it back." His statement caused several eyebrows to be raised in disbelief at Zeno's lack of concern over something as important to him as his scarf, or more specifically the medallion that hung from the scarf. Seeing that the others were really not buying his admittedly poor excuse—Zeno plastered a smile on his face as he reassured them, "Really you guys, it happens sometimes. Zeno does not mind too much, it always comes back in perfect condition, sometimes even better than before it was taken." Turning back to his food, Zeno resolutely ignored the gapping faces of his friends in favor of the delicious meal until the sound of a fast moving projectile caused him to jerk backwards as an arrow sliced through the trees and stuck into a tree a few feet behind him, right at eye level. Tied to the arrow was Zeno's missing scarf, freshly washed and cleaner than he ever managed to get it. Calmly, and still firmly ignoring both the fact that said arrow had almost just ended up embedded between his eyes again instead of in the tree and his friends' sudden grabs for their weapons, Zeno removed the previously missing piece of fabric and retied it around his head. Then the smallest dragon planted his foot against the tree, carefully took hold of the arrow, and pulled hard while also pushing off the tree with his foot. The arrow slowly slid back a few centimeters before suddenly slipping free and sending Zeno falling backwards as he flailed his arms to try and stay upright. _**"Damn arrow,"**_ he murmured darkly before carefully putting the arrow into his sash for safekeeping until he could make a trip out to see Hime again. Zeno then proceeded to completely ignore everyone else for the rest of the night after sending an unworried and highly amused look at Shin ah when he felt the larger dragon watching him. Eventually, the group gave up their attempts to pester Zeno, he had way more patience then they expected, and everyone settled down for bed. Zeno got several disgruntled looks from Hak and Jae ha, who really did not appreciate being ignored, as he settled down next to Shin ah for the first half of the night. With an unexpected patience and some really awesome ninja skills, Zeno waited until the moon was high overhead and it has changed from a late night to a very early morning before carefully sliding from his spot next to Shin ah and silently exiting from the camp. Moving quickly, still not making a sound, Zeno traveled the faint not-really-a-path line that acted as a trail for traveling around Hime's camp. Reaching the clearing that currently hosted her camp, Zeno continued moving past it—traveling along barely their paths that crisscross and intersect in patterns that would definitely require a map if he had not helped to create them. As the trees thinned out again, Zeno slowed as a gently humming separated from the sounds of a waterfall and drifted up from the banks of a small lake that was created when an earthquake had dammed up the flow of a small creek several decades ago. As he approached, the humming changed into a beautiful song that was lovingly masked by the trees surrounding the lake.

 _Far far above the clouds against the setting sun_

 _A falcon flies all alone, soaring in the wind_

 _I hear his lonely cry_

 _So sad must he be_

 _Riding the silent wind, the falcon flies alone_

 _Reaching up with his wings grasps the empty sky_

 _Riding silent with the wind never can he rest_

 _What it is within my heart no one can ever know_

 _A heart like a falcon is this very heart_

 _What it is within my heart no one can ever know_

 _Lonely falcon in the empty sky_

 _I walk alone along deserted country roads_

 _Walk with me side by side_

 _You are always there_

 _I feel your loneliness_

 _Lonely you must be_

 _Crickets they are whispering in the grassy fields_

 _You walk there by my side_

 _Walk that path with me_

 _But you never say a word_

 _Never do you speak_

 _What it is within my heart no one can ever know_

 _Here inside this heart that walks this path alone_

 _What it is within my heart no one can ever know_

 _The sadness of one who always is alone_

 _I walk alone along deserted country roads_

 _Walk with me side by side_

 _You are always there_

 _I feel your loneliness_

 _Lonely you must be_

 _Crickets they are whispering in the grassy fields_

 _You walk there by my side_

 _Walk that path with me_

 _But you never say a word_

 _Never do you speak_

 _What it is within my heart no one can ever know_

 _Here inside this heart that walks this path alone_

 _What it is inside my heart no one can ever know_

 _The sadness of one who always is alone_

Standing along the bank, facing the full moon, was a figure from legends. Silken violet hair fell smoothly down her back, and pale skin almost glowing in the moon light only served to make the deep purple scales that peeked out from beneath her clothes. Her eyes were closed and her face was serene as the quiet humming rose and fell in pitch as the song reached its ending. Finished, there were a few seconds of silence when neither of them moved before she shifted and turned to face him with a smile on her face.

" _ **Hello Brother,"**_ Hime greeted him quietly, her deep amethyst eyes sparkling in the moonlight. Zeno grinned at his closest friend as he jumped down from the hill he was on that overlooked the lake,

" _ **Hello Sister,"**_ he returned just as softly as he landed silently next to her. Hime ruffled his hair affectionately as the two settled down on the bank to enjoy their stolen time together under the moonlight. The two spoke little as they soaked up the peace from the moonlit water, leaning gently on each other. Suddenly, Zeno broke the silence that had surrounded them, _**"You're happy tonight,"**_ he remarked sounding pleased and just a little inquisitive.

" _ **Ahh,"**_ Hime responded carelessly, _**"it is rare that we get the opportunity to meet and even rarer to meet under the full moon. It would be a waste if our time together was spent brooding on the past we cannot change instead the future we can."**_ Zeno snorted but it was offset by the honest smile on his face,

" _ **True enough,"**_ he agreed with her, _**"true enough."**_ The two stayed in silence for a few more minutes before the moon began to sink in the sky again. The two had barely spoken to each other, but they had still conveyed everything they had wanted to share. Hime was the first to get up, rising with all the grace of her namesake, before offering a hand to Zeno.

" _ **You should be leaving; the others will be rising soon."**_ He grasped her hand and let her pull him up unto his feet. She offered him a small smile that he returned,

" _ **We're leaving the area in the morning,"**_ Zeno tells her suddenly, his eyes searching her for some secret they might divulge for him. Hime's smile softened and she squeezed his hand comfortingly,

" _ **I know,"**_ She tells him—letting his hand go in order to lean forward and place a gentle kiss on his forehead before pushing him backwards slightly, _**"Goodbye."**_ Zeno frowned, but nodded and placed a kiss of his own on her cheek,

" _ **Goodbye,"**_ he says back as he turned away and began his lonely trek back to his own camp. The trail is much clearer to him from this direction and it only takes him half the time to reach the edge of the clearing the camp was in. Just as silently has he had left, Zeno made his way around the dead fire and slipped down to his place on the ground next to Shin ah to sleep the remaining few hours until Yun forced them up to continue traveling.

After being awakened by the smell of food the next morning, the group ate and packed up and set out through the trees, passing strait through the clearing that Hime had been staying in—completely empty of it's pervious occupant and offering no clues that until the sun rose this morning someone had been living there. Zeno dropped back to trail behind the group a little as he turned around to view the empty clearing, _"Goodbye Sister,"_ he though sadly before turning back around and running after the rest of the dragons and their king. Unseen blood red eyes watch him leave, a hidden and sad smile on her face as Hime watched Zeno leave before standing and leaving herself—traveling in the direction that they had come from,

" _Goodbye Brother"_


End file.
